Spring 3.0 exception converting String to java.util.Date on POST - json

Question

I'm hoping someone can help me since I have been banging my head against a wall for a couple of days on a issue which seems straightforward and which has been documented in other threads on the web.
I am using Smart GWT client (3.0) in conjunction with Spring 3.1 server and using JSON to communicate (with Jackson API 1.9).
The issue is that when I attempt to save a date from my SmartGWT client and it is sent to the server I get the following exception:
org.springframework.validation.BindException: org.springframework.validation.BeanPropertyBindingResult: 1 errors
Field error in object 'comment' on field 'dateAdded': rejected value [2012-06-27T10:57:47+0100]; codes [typeMismatch.comment.dateAdded,typeMismatch.dateAdded,typeMismatch.java.util.Date,typeMismatch]; arguments [org.springframework.context.support.DefaultMessageSourceResolvable: codes [comment.dateAdded,dateAdded]; arguments []; default message [dateAdded]]; default message [Failed to convert property value of type 'java.lang.String' to required type 'java.util.Date' for property 'dateAdded'; nested exception is org.springframework.core.convert.ConversionFailedException: Failed to convert from type java.lang.String to type java.util.Date for value '2012-06-27T10:57:47+0100'; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalArgumentException]
at org.springframework.web.method.annotation.ModelAttributeMethodProcessor.resolveArgument(ModelAttributeMethodProcessor.java:110)
I have seen this issue in a few other posts, but most relate to not having formatted the Date in the correct format, but I have tried various formats:
- yyyy-MM-dd
- yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssZ
- yyyyMMddHHmmssZ (as per suggestion here: http://code.google.com/p/usersapi/issues/detail?id=8)
So in my code I have done the following:
Configured a CustomObjectMapper:
`
public class CustomObjectMapper extends ObjectMapper {
SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssZ");
public CustomObjectMapper() {
super();
configure(Feature.WRITE_DATES_AS_TIMESTAMPS, false);
setDateFormat(formatter);
getDeserializationConfig().setDateFormat(formatter);
}
}
`
Spring app context thusly:
`
<mvc:annotation-driven>
<mvc:message-converters>
<bean class="org.springframework.http.converter.xml.MarshallingHttpMessageConverter">
<constructor-arg ref="jaxbMarshaller" />
<property name="supportedMediaTypes" value="application/xml"/>
</bean>
<bean class="org.springframework.http.converter.json.MappingJacksonHttpMessageConverter">
<property name="objectMapper" ref="jacksonObjectMapper" />
<property name="supportedMediaTypes" value="application/json" />
</bean>
</mvc:message-converters>
</mvc:annotation-driven>
<context:component-scan base-package="com.jpmorgan.creditriskreporting.server" />
<bean id="marshallingConverter" class="org.springframework.http.converter.xml.MarshallingHttpMessageConverter">
<constructor-arg ref="jaxbMarshaller" />
<property name="supportedMediaTypes" value="application/xml"/>
</bean>
<bean id="jsonConverter" class="org.springframework.http.converter.json.MappingJacksonHttpMessageConverter">
<property name="supportedMediaTypes" value="application/json" />
<property name="objectMapper" ref="jacksonObjectMapper" />
</bean>
<bean id="jacksonObjectMapper" class="com.jpmorgan.creditriskreporting.server.util.CustomObjectMapper" />
<!-- Client -->
<bean id="restTemplate" class="org.springframework.web.client.RestTemplate">
<property name="messageConverters">
<list>
<ref bean="marshallingConverter" />
<ref bean="jsonConverter" />
</list>
</property>
</bean>
`
Bean object:
`
import java.util.Date;
#JsonAutoDetect
public class Comment {
private int id;
private String comment;
private Date dateAdded;
public Comment() {}
public Comment(int id) {
this.id = id;
}
...
//#JsonSerialize(using=JsonDateSerializer.class) -- I had previously tried to use these custom Date serializer class
public Date getDateAdded() {
return dateAdded;
}
//#JsonDeserialize(using=JsonDateDeserializer.class)
public void setDateAdded(Date dateAdded) {
this.dateAdded = dateAdded;
}
`
EDIT:
Controller Class
This may be where the issue lies, since when I use #RequestBody it works from my Integration tests, however, my Abstract RestDataSource in SmartGWT only works with #ModelAttribute, so I'm not sure how to proceed.
#RequestMapping(value="/", method=RequestMethod.POST)
public #ResponseBody Comment createNewComment2(#ModelAttribute Comment comment) {
log.info("calling createComment with comment: {}", comment);
comment.setDateAdded(new Date());
Comment added = commentDao.create(comment);
log.info("created comment: {}", added);
return commentDao.get(comment);
}
So I can fetch data from the server and the date is displayed in SmartGWT fine. It's only when I do the add data that I get the issue. From Smart GWT Developer Console:
{
"dataSource":"CommentDS",
"operationType":"add",
"componentId":"isc_DynamicForm_1",
"data":{
"userAdded":"sharper",
"dateAdded":"2012-06-27T10:57:47+0100",
"comment":"sample"
},
"callback":{
"target":[DynamicForm ID:isc_DynamicForm_1],
"methodName":"saveEditorReply"
},
"showPrompt":true,
"prompt":"Saving form...",
"oldValues":{
},
"clientContext":{
},
"requestId":"CommentDS$6272"
}
Any help with this is hugely appreciated.
Cheers,
Steve

Answer 1

I found out the issue thanks to http://vkubushyn.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/smart-gwt-restful-spring-mvc
Had to use Spring's InitBinder
#InitBinder
public void initBinder(WebDataBinder binder) {
SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssZ");
dateFormat.setLenient(false);
binder.registerCustomEditor(Date.class, new CustomDateEditor(dateFormat, false));
}

Answer 2

You should add DateFormat into your model.
#DateTimeFormat(pattern = "dd.MM.yyyy")
private Date beginDate;
#DateTimeFormat(pattern = "dd.MM.yyyy")
private Date endDate;
as a function parameter
void functionName** (#RequestParam("beginDate") #DateTimeFormat(pattern = "dd.MM.yyyy")Date beginDate, #RequestParam("endDate") #DateTimeFormat(pattern = "dd.MM.yyyy")Date endDate)

Answer 3

I might be wrong, but as far as I remember the Z stands for timezone in ISOwhoknowswhatformat. And that's 4 chars wide, so I would try this:
new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssZZZZ");
By the way: if this is the issue you should've catched it in your unit tests. You do have unit test for CustomObjectMapper don't you? :P